The intention of this unit is to guide students to understanding the fundamental concepts of evolution: life in Earth is diverse and all organisms vary genetically, these variations are traits that are inherited from parents, environmental conditions affects survivorship and the sequential inheritance of favorable characteristics by subsequent generations and that change occurs over a long period of time, differentiated by microevolution and macroevolution. There will be an emphasis on evidence supporting theories of evolution and opportunities for students to investigate and explore in small group settings.
The unit will be divided into these four subcategories and guiding questions:
1) The Fossil Record: what are fossils? how do they form? how do we know the age of a fossil? what do fossils tell us about evolution?
2) Natural Selection: what is it? what evidence supports this explanation? what are the possible effects of natural selection?
3) Macro v. Micro evolution: what are the differences? under what circumstances does either process occur?
4) Speciation and Extinction:
It is also my goal that at the end of this unit and two years from now, students will be able to answer the following questions:
1) What is evolution?
2) What do genes have to do with evolution?
3) Is evolution random?
4) Why do some species survive and some go extinct?
I also hope that this unit on evolution will lead students to questions such as: do humans impact evolution? Are humans evolving? If so, is the evolution the same for other organisms?
Learning Performances and Standards
Students demonstrate an understanding of Natural Selection/ evolution by…
8a illustrating that when an environment changes, the survival advantage /disadvantage of some characteristics may change.
8b distinguish between microevolution (on small scale within a single population –e.g., change in gene frequency within a population) and macroevolution (on a scale that transcends boundaries of a single species – e.g., diversity of all beetle species within the order of insects) and explain how macroevolution accounts for speciation and extinction.
8c recognizing patterns in molecular and fossil evidence, to provide a scientific explanation for Natural Selection and its evolutionary consequences (e.g. survival, adaptation). Students demonstrate an understanding of classification of organisms by …
8d using data or models (charts, diagrams, table, narratives etc.) to analyze how organisms are organized into a hierarchy of groups and subgroups based on evolutionary relationships. (e.g. creating a taxonomic key to organize a given set of examples).
Outline, Concept Map, or other Graphical Representation of the Concepts Addressed in the Unit
Day 1: Fossil Record Day 2: Day 3: Natural Selection Day 4:
Day 5: Day 6: Macro vs. Micro Evolution
Day 7: Day 8: Speciation and Extinction
Day 9:
Day 10:
Assessment Plan
Describe how you will assess your students' understanding of the unit's learning goals throughout the unit. These assessments should include formative assessments, e.g. questions that you ask that probe probable misconceptions, embedded assessments, e.g. activity artifacts, and summative assessments, e.g. tests and quizzes. Note: You are encouraged to use the assessment developed in class in this section.
Rationale
VERY IMPORTANT: Your rationale should focus on the following questions: How did you make the topic meaningful for students? How did you make use of inquiry? What are the ways in which you assessed student learning? How did you take account of students' prior experiences and knowledge? How will you sequence lessons so that they support the understanding of the learning outcomes? How will you help students make sense of the materials? Please make use of class readings and discussions in writing your rationale. The rationale is important because it serves as evidence that you are thinking about the unit like a teacher, i.e. going beyond "writing plans" to thinking about how you are going to engage your students with a topic in a way that builds over two or three weeks.
Title: Evolution: Life's Diversity
Author: Meredith LaBove
Grade Level: 11
Course: Biology
Time: 1 hour 15 minute blocks
Purpose of Unit
The intention of this unit is to guide students to understanding the fundamental concepts of evolution: life in Earth is diverse and all organisms vary genetically, these variations are traits that are inherited from parents, environmental conditions affects survivorship and the sequential inheritance of favorable characteristics by subsequent generations and that change occurs over a long period of time, differentiated by microevolution and macroevolution. There will be an emphasis on evidence supporting theories of evolution and opportunities for students to investigate and explore in small group settings.The unit will be divided into these four subcategories and guiding questions:
1) The Fossil Record: what are fossils? how do they form? how do we know the age of a fossil? what do fossils tell us about evolution?
2) Natural Selection: what is it? what evidence supports this explanation? what are the possible effects of natural selection?
3) Macro v. Micro evolution: what are the differences? under what circumstances does either process occur?
4) Speciation and Extinction:
It is also my goal that at the end of this unit and two years from now, students will be able to answer the following questions:
1) What is evolution?
2) What do genes have to do with evolution?
3) Is evolution random?
4) Why do some species survive and some go extinct?
I also hope that this unit on evolution will lead students to questions such as: do humans impact evolution? Are humans evolving? If so, is the evolution the same for other organisms?
Learning Performances and Standards
Students demonstrate an understanding of Natural Selection/ evolution by…8a illustrating that when an environment changes, the survival advantage /disadvantage of some characteristics may change.
8b distinguish between microevolution (on small scale within a single population –e.g., change in gene frequency within a population) and macroevolution (on a scale that transcends boundaries of a single species – e.g., diversity of all beetle species within the order of insects) and explain how macroevolution accounts for speciation and extinction.
8c recognizing patterns in molecular and fossil evidence, to provide a scientific explanation for Natural Selection and its evolutionary consequences (e.g. survival, adaptation).
Students demonstrate an understanding of classification of organisms by …
8d using data or models (charts, diagrams, table, narratives etc.) to analyze how organisms are organized into a hierarchy of groups and subgroups based on evolutionary relationships. (e.g. creating a taxonomic key to organize a given set of examples).
Outline, Concept Map, or other Graphical Representation of the Concepts Addressed in the Unit
Lesson Sequence
Day 1: Fossil RecordDay 2:
Day 3: Natural Selection
Day 4:
Day 5:
Day 6: Macro vs. Micro Evolution
Day 7:
Day 8: Speciation and Extinction
Day 9:
Day 10:
Assessment Plan
Describe how you will assess your students' understanding of the unit's learning goals throughout the unit. These assessments should include formative assessments, e.g. questions that you ask that probe probable misconceptions, embedded assessments, e.g. activity artifacts, and summative assessments, e.g. tests and quizzes. Note: You are encouraged to use the assessment developed in class in this section.Rationale
VERY IMPORTANT: Your rationale should focus on the following questions: How did you make the topic meaningful for students? How did you make use of inquiry? What are the ways in which you assessed student learning? How did you take account of students' prior experiences and knowledge? How will you sequence lessons so that they support the understanding of the learning outcomes? How will you help students make sense of the materials? Please make use of class readings and discussions in writing your rationale. The rationale is important because it serves as evidence that you are thinking about the unit like a teacher, i.e. going beyond "writing plans" to thinking about how you are going to engage your students with a topic in a way that builds over two or three weeks.